It started with a dance
by gsrfan1
Summary: It all started with a dance but how wil it end. What will a year and the holidays that come with it bring for the roomies.
1. Chapter 1

"FYI, the drooling look is out

Title: It started with a dance…..

Author: gsrfan

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, I own nothing. : (

Summary: It started with a dance…..

A look at what the span of a year, and the holidays that come with it could bring our roomies

A/N: I'm back, wasn't planning on writing anything new, as the disaster that was the end of season 13 put me off, but this has been floating around my head and the only way to get rid of it is to write it down.

Chapter 1 – Valentines

It started with a dance…..well that isn't technically true, it started with a semi- depressed English girl, an overly promoted holiday, a bottle of tequila, and a devilishly handsome roommate who had nothing better to do on a Friday night….that was _his_ story anyway and he was sticking to it..

XXXX

"Oh would you quit moping?" Ray said as Neela sat on the sofa, a bottle of tequila resting precariously in her hand. "So you haven't got a date on Valentine's day, big deal."

"Oh, just rub it in why don't you," she pouted, "and it's not just this year, it comes back around every year to mock me, and every year I spend it alone with only a bottle of some alcoholic beverage to keep me company. It's not the holiday that depresses me Ray; it's the sorry state of my life."

"A little melodramatic aren't we?" Ray mocked her, her ramblings amusing him.

"Says the guy who has so many dates he should fit a revolving door on his bedroom," she glared back scathingly.

"Ouch," he said clutching his heart, "nice one, and just when I was gonna offer to cheer you up."

"How? By leaving me to wallow peacefully in my misery?" she said scornfully,

"No," he grinned taking the bottle from her and dragging her to her feet, "It just so happens that I'm flying solo this year…..I know, shocking," he said at the look of mock horror on her face, "so put on your best dancing shoes, cos tonight you're all mine."

'**If only'** both their minds echoed in the silence.

X X X X

"No wonder you're on your own on Valentines Day," Neela smiled at Ray, "You invite a girl to go dancing and then stand like a statue all night."

"I never said that _I_ would be doing the dancing," he grinned cheekily, "so go, dance, I'm strictly here for your protection."

"I can take care of myself," she laughed,

"Not in _that_ dress," he said taking the opportunity to look her up and down again, eyeing the material that had caused his heart to stop beating earlier. The crimson contrasting against her skin, making your eyes just radiate towards her, unfortunately it wasn't just his eyes that were doing it.

"Fine," she smirked, "if you won't dance with me, I'll just have to find someone who will," she teased as she sidled her way on to the dance floor.

"You sure you want to let her do that," the bartender said jokingly, "a great looking little thing like her won't be on her own out there for long."

Ray narrowed his eyes at his description of his roommate, as if the bartender was breaking some secret male code by daring to eye up what was clearly the woman of _his_ dreams….he had a point though.

Looking back out on to the dance floor, his eyes went straight to her, a vision of beauty in a mass of ordinary. He couldn't stop the huge smile that spread across his face, she was perfect.

"She can handle herself," he told his new 'friend'.

"You sure?" the bartender answered, tipping his head towards the crowd, "Grabby hands over there might tell you otherwise. You gonna help her?"

"I don't feel like having my head removed violently from my body, so I'll just observe from a safe distance for now." He grinned sipping his beer as he watched Neela steadily reaching her limit.

"Look, you seem like a nice guy and if you weren't breathing stale beer fumes all over me I might even consider talking to you, but you're gonna have to take a hint and leave me alone now," she said.

-**Get away from you idiot, if you make me embarrass myself by calling Ray you'll be in for it. -**

Clearly not taking her hint, she felt his hands on her hips again, that was the final straw.

"Look _buddy_," she said, cringing at that word, Ray was rubbing off on her, "I really think you should leave before my _boyfriend_ comes back." She said emphasising the word boyfriend and practically shouting it in Ray's direction.

Ray just smirked and waved childishly at them from the bar, "I think that was my cue," he said leaving his bottle on the bar and heading towards her.

"Baby!" he said as over the top as he could get, wrapping his arms around her and heading to squeeze her ass.

"You even try and you'll be limping for a very long time," Neela whispered in his ear under the guise of kissing his neck.

"Spoil sport," he whispered, rubbing his hand slowly down her arm, she had to stop herself from sighing, "You bothering my girl?" Ray asked the now less persistent guy, who just held his hands up and backed away.

"My girl?" Neela asked stepping out of his embrace reluctantly, any longer and she may have melted in a love struck version of her former self. "Are you drunk or did you just temporarily lose your mind and think that was acceptable?" she mock admonished him.

"I was putting on a show," he said winking at her, "which I think we should continue a few minutes more, I don't think he's buying it," he said gesturing at the guy who was eyeing them across the dance floor." Care to dance with me?" he asked his heart beating faster than he thought possible; this was a dream come true.

"Don't get any ideas," Neela winked at him as she took his hand and slipped her other arm around his neck, his resting around her waist.

"Just let me lead and we'll be fine," he countered, any other retorts gone from his mind as he felt her relax her body against him.

"You ok?" she asked as she felt him stiffen up,

"Yeah," he whispered, his breath taken away as moved his hand to rest on the bare skin of her back and rest his head gently against her hair, the scent encompassing him, till it, and the feel of her was all he could focus on.

Her free hand moved up his body to rest on his chest as she laid her head alongside it and closed all distance between them, hardly noticing that they were barely even moving. His fingers knotted themselves in the soft curls at the ends of her hair and she couldn't stop her intake of breath as his fingertips brushed briefly against her skin.

She lifted her head away from his chest to look at his face, his eyes locking on to hers and pulling her in, as his hand moved from her hair, slowly along her arm to her cheek. She closed her eyes as he rubbed his thumb across it in a gentle caress, her eyes full of an emotion he didn't recognise on her but hoped to learn,

"Neela, I…." he started but was cut off as the DJ's voice over the loud speaker kicked in,

"Well that was the last dance tonight for all you lovebirds, but come and see us again next year, Happy Valentine's day to you all, god bless and good night."

Ray had to bite his lip to stop himself from cursing and Neela backed away as the houselights came on, looking at anywhere but him.

**-What the hell was I thinking?-** he thought, **-this isn't a fantasy, you don't get the girl at the end of the night.-**

"I guess we should head home," he said, searching out her eyes,

"Yeah," she said finally looking up at him, "back to reality."

**-This dream is certainly over, he's totally freaked out. What came over me?-**

XXXX

"Home, sweet, home," he said holding the door open for her,

"I had a really great time." She smiled.

**-Right up to the point where I shamelessly flirted with you and started to tell me to stop.-**

"Yeah me too," he smiled back, a hint of sadness lurking behind his eyes,

**-Why didn't I just say it, three words, it's not that hard.-**

"So I was thinking," he said, taking a risk not for the first time that night, "that if we don't have dates again next year, not that I'm saying you wouldn't," he added not wanting to insult her, "we could do this again."

**-I'm gonna be single then even if it kills me,- **he thought

"Sure," she said, never thinking it would happen, she'd be single for sure, but there was no way he would be for the second year in a row. "Well goodnight then," she said as she stepped inside her room as he headed to do the same.

He smiled to himself as he lay down, this night had gone almost perfectly to plan, he always intended on asking her out, but acting like her knight in shining armour and saving her from her holiday misery had been an added bonus. That way if she had refused, he could have acted like it didn't matter on the outside and crumble quietly on the inside without her ever knowing.

And that dance….that one perfect moment that he would remember for his entire life, that was just…..perfect**.**

**-Apart from where you chickened out.-**

**-Shut up,- **he chastised him self, nothing could ruin that moment in his memory.

The dance had started a series of events that would shape the rest of their year together, but if you had told them then how it was all going to end, neither of them would have believed you.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – 4th July (1)

"Oh god," Neela sighed, collapsing on the admit desk, as she took in Ray's appearance, "It's not that time of year again already is it."

"Afraid so," he smirked, waving his miniature American flag in front of her, "the time when we celebrate all that is American and annoy the hell out of you."

"Next year I'm sleeping straight through from the 3rd to the 5th so I can miss out on all this madness," she said, only half meaning it, who was she to complain really, she had chosen to live there after all. "I think I've seen enough stars and stripes to last me a lifetime."

"Does this mean a party at our place is out of the question then?" he asked, putting on his best, 'you know you love me really face'

"Does this mean that you've planned one anyway and are trying to figure out whether I'm gonna murder you in your sleep?" she asked back with mock seriousness.

"Maybe," he grinned,

"You're terrible you know that?" she smiled, "a party is fine….this time," she added pointedly, "but in future I'd like to know before hand, maybe one day you'll even work your way up to actually asking me first."

"Whoa now," he said putting a hand on her shoulder, "don't get too excited, I'm not quite ready for something that drastic."

"I live in hope," she smiled back,

"Well, my shift is over, so much to do, so little time to do it." He said making his way towards the exit, "see you later,"

"Ok," she agreed, "oh and one more thing, you're doing all the cleaning up tomorrow."

"Wouldn't expect anything less," he smiled as he left the ER knowing full well that tomorrow he'd be in no fit condition to clean anything, but he'd break that news to her then….unless she killed him first that was.

XXXX

"Hey, no hiding," Ray mocked scorned Neela as her found her hiding on the fire escape, "this is _our_ party, you're not being a good host."

"Don't think that by saying 'our' in that tone that it in anyway gets you out of clean up duty tomorrow mister," Neela grinned back, "I wasn't born yesterday you know."

Ray grinned that irresistible, heart melting grin of his and handed her a beer.

"So, what you doing out her all by your lonesome?" he asked, before taking a swig of his own drink, a little Dutch courage before attempting to have an actual serious conversation with his roommate, also know as the woman of his dreams that turned his knees to jelly and his brain to mush. Ever since Valentine's day and the moment that neither of them acknowledged, out loud anyway, they had either been in a constant state of frivolous banter or on the verge of a tension filled moment that neither of the could process.

"Nothing," she answered, trying to hide the melancholy in her voice, "this," she said waving her arm in the general direction of the party, "just isn't my thing, I don't really belong in there you know."

Ray was saddened by her words, in there was exactly where she belonged, she was one of them.

"Hey now," he smiled, "just cos you're not from around these parts," he said putting on a silly accent, "doesn't mean you have to miss out on the fun of dressing up in silly outfits and getting merry with us."

"I know," she smiled, nudging him with her shoulder, he really was the best roommate ever, "I just feel a little out of place."

"Well, we'll just have to see what we can do about that now won't we?" he grinned dragging her back to the apartment.

"That sounds ominous," she said warily, "Am I gonna regret this?"

Ray just shot her a look that said – have I ever let you down before?- and grinned,

"Ladies, Gentleman …..and Morris," Ray said, tapping the side of his beer bottle for effect, "I have an announcement to make…….I would like to introduce you all to Neela, my special friend from across the big blue sea,"

Neela grinned and mouthed –_ you are such a child_, to him- while he continued on regardless,

"Now it seems that she thinks she doesn't fit in here, can't imagine why that would be?" he grinned acting clueless, "so I propose this…… a mission of sorts……. To make her as ridiculously American tonight as we possibly can….who's game?"

Neela looked around the room, fear in her eyes as she imagined the outrageous things her less than sober things would inflict on her.

"You're dead," she called to Ray as Abby hauled her away to the bathroom.

"Yeah, but at least I'll have some fun before I go," he shot a grin a mile wide spread across his face.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – 4th July

"Introducing the new and improved Neela Rasgotra," Abby said as Haleh and Chuni dragged her out of her room, much to her protest. "Featuring none other than a statue of liberty crown,"Abby said, describing like she was up for acution.

"Any cracks about jumbo mart and you're sleeping in the hallway," Neela said pointedly at Ray who just held up his hands innocently.

"Catholic school girl outfit a la Britney Spears and last but not least, the American flag," she said, adding, "Neela turn around," as she stood there refusing to move. "Don't make me force you,"

"Fine, fine," Neela said turning around showing off a crudely drawn flag on her lower back. "If this gets on the furniture, you're dead," she joked.

"Come on now roomie, play nice. You're the one who wanted to fit in," Ray teased,

"I'll be fitting your dead body into a small enclosed space if you ever try this again," she punching him lightly in the arm.

"You wouldn't dare, you love me too much," he joked before sticking his tongue out and walking over to Pratt.

-**Yes I do** – Neela inwardly sighed before putting on a brave face and joining them in the kitchen.

XXXX

"So, you feel like you fit in now?" Ray asked as he collapsed onto the sofa next to her. "No more drama?"

"I guess," she smiled, "I can't believe you found this," she said pointing object of disgust on her head, "I was sure I'd burnt it."

Ray just grinned at her again, brushing hair out of her eyes, the alcohol boosting his confidence. "It's cute, Dr…..Jum…."

"Don't even try it," Neela laughed, "I had fun," she smiled, swaying slightly as she stood and walked in to the kitchen, the beer getting the best of her.

"Whoa there," Ray laughed as he stood by her side to steady her, his hands resting on her hips, her smooth skin taunting him, urging him to lean closer, his mouth was only inches from hers as he bent his head down to look at her.

"I had fun too," he smiled, inching closer to her instead of backing away to a safe distance like his head was screaming at him too.

"I'm glad," she said her voice dropping as Ray moved his hands to her back, his eyes boring through hers as a million voices told him not to do what he was doing.

'**She doesn't feel the same way'**

'**You'll freak her out and ruin your friendship.'**

"**Start thinking with your big brain for a change dumbass.'**

"We should…." He started, trying to focus his thoughts and come to one solid conclusion, but never finished as his lips tentatively touched hers, pressing harder as she leaned into him.

Her arms wrapped around his waist as he edged her backwards, his arms encasing her small frame in his as he placed his palms on the fridge. There was no escape, not that she wanted one. His lips brushed against her shoulder before making their way to her neck, her head tipping back as he moved one hand to her cheek.Her arms slowly wrapped around his neck as she tiptoed to reach his lips which had moved back on to hers, his tongue brushed against her lips eliciting a sigh. Leaning against the fridge to steady her, she let out another sigh as she deepened the kiss, her fingers tangled in his hair.

"Hey Ray, man, this was the best 4th of July I've been to in ……" Morris stopped short as his eyes fixed on the couple in front of him.

Ray took an immediate step back, looking down at the floor like a guilty school boy, his mind a jumble, not knowing whether to cover up what they'd done or shout in from the rooftops. Neela rearranged her shirt which had slipped off her shoulder, with a little help from Rays hands.

"Woah, sorry guys," Morris said holding his hands up in apology.

"No, it's cool," Ray said looking shyly at Neela, "It was nothing, we were just…. You know….. nothing….right?" he finished aiming the question at his now heartbroken roommate,.

**- It was everything…to me anyway- **she thought,** -why else would I do it?-**

"Yeah," she said biting her lip, "Nothing but a little too much to drink, you know how it goes right?" she said determined to be as casual as Ray was, clearly this was a common occurrence to him. No big deal.

'**No, just your biggest dream coming true and being crushed in the same moment,'**

"Well, I was just heading home," Morris said heading to the door, the tension suffocating him.

As the door closed behind him, Ray glanced awkwardly at Neela who was busying her self with clearing up.

"Neela, I….um….we should….." he stumbled over his words,

'**What the hell is your problem….**_**you**_** kissed **_**her**_**, she kissed you back, this is good don't screw it up now.'**

"Talk?" she finished for her him, "Don't bother," she said with a slight laugh in her voice to hide her despair, "you made yourself perfectly clear and you know you're right. We're both a little drunk, we have a good friendship, let's not complicate it. Just forget the whole thing." She said, hoping her brave face was showing rather her broken heart.

"Forget what?" he said playing along, offering a melancholy smile to mask his confusion and sadness.

**-She kissed me back?? That means something…doesn't it? Yeah….too much drink-**

"Right," she smiled, "Well, see you in the morning roomie," she said, adding the nickname in an attempt to lighten the mood as she headed to her room.

"Yeah," he said as he did the same, hoping that things would be easier then and that they would forget the whole thing. That it would get filed away with all of the other moments that didn't warrant re-visiting, one in particular being that one perfect minute where he had held her in his arms and the whole world had stood still. Those moments seemed to be mounting up in the little vault of denial he had in the back of his mind, he just had no idea that she was storing away the same things, and that her feelings on them weren't so different to his own.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Halloween

"FYI, the drooling look is out this season." Morris grinned as he tapped Ray on the shoulder.

"Huh, what?" Ray said, snapping his eyes away from Neela, wiping the corners of his mouth as discretely as he could.

"Oh you've got it _bad_," Pratt laughed joining in,

"I've got nothing," Ray said in denial, "and I was _not_ drooling."

"Yeah and I'm a strawberry blonde," Morris laughed as he and Pratt headed to the drinks table that Abby had set up, at her rather impromptu Halloween party. Ray could of sworn he heard Morris mumble, "4th of July," under his breath as he looked back at him. Ray just glared, Morris had been advised that if he valued his life, he was never to mention that moment to anyone.

"Whatever," Ray mumbled as his eyes drifted unconsciously back to the object of his affection. Her hair was in loose ringlets barely brushing her shoulders, the 'medieval princess' dress she had picked out hugged her body in all the right places, and the shade of blue suited her in a way he just couldn't describe with actual words, they tended to just meld into love sick ramblings between his brain and his mouth.

"And what are _you_ meant to be?" Abby asked as she and Neela walked over, "Rebel without a clue….. it's certainly an _interesting_ 'get-up'." She said taking in the black nail varnish, eye liner, spiked hair and more bracelets than she or any other woman probably owned.

Neela however was trying to keep her eyes of his nicely toned stomach that dared to tempt her through his white t-shirt, his tighter than usual jeans weren't helping her imagination either.

"Can't you tell?" he asked, "come on, it's obvious," he said glancing at Neela who had successfully stopped her inspection of the 'forbidden fruit'.

She grinned at him; she got it "He's a rock star,"

"In his dreams maybe," Abby teased,

'**Oh no,'** Ray thought, **'my dreams are filled with much more productive yet much more elusive things,**' his eyes unconsciously scanning Neela, trying not to focus on her chest, which considering the corset she was wearing difficult.

'**Should have worn loser jeans'** he told himself.

"You should have worn that other outfit I showed you, Neela, it was total groupie, you two would have been so cool together." Abby smiled, always one to add a little hint here or there. Her friends were so clueless when it came to each other.

**-Together**- Neela thought sadly, -**tried that one time, didn't go down too well.-** the memory of the kiss still fresh in her mind despite the months that had passed.

"Yeah…."Neela said nonchalantly, "moving on"

"Oh I forgot we don't talk about _that outfit_ do we?" Abby smiled, "Look I only _suggested_ you write Ray's name across your chest in eye liner, it's not like I told you to get a tattoo or anything.

Neela turned crimson while Ray almost stopped breathing at the thought of his name being written anywhere on her, let alone there.

'**Don't get too exited buddy, it's the closest you're ever gonna get.'**

"You were right though," Abby continued as the others grinned, "it wouldn't be authentic; most of his groupies don't actually know his name.

"You said that?" Ray said slightly hurt,

"Like it's not true." Pratt smiled, "come on man, who are you fooling?"

"Certainly not me," Neela said bitterly, the memories of him and god knows how many one night stands changing her mood. Why was so different about them, why couldn't he want her?

Sensing the tension, Morris looked at Pratt, who looked at Abby, who was already backing away to a distance where they could eavesdrop. They quickly followed suit, they didn't need to get involved in this.

"What's your _problem_?" Ray asked, "You've been jumpy all day."

"Jumpy?" she said in disbelief, "Hmmm, could that have anything to do with the fact that you took _every_ opportunity to try and scare the crap out of me today?"

She had mistakenly told him that she didn't scare easy, so every time she rounded a corner he had jumped out at her, snuck up on her; make creepy noises, anything to scare her. After the first million or so times she told herself to expect it, but somehow he still managed to surprise her, she was never scared but she was certainly annoyed.

"Come on Neela, its Halloween, that's the point." He grinned; he'd just been playing around.

"Yeah well next Halloween you better get yourself a new point or you're a dead man" she told him, meaning every word.

She didn't know why she was being so harsh, well she did, because she was insanely jealous of every woman he bought home that wasn't her, which, unsurprisingly was a lot, but there was no way she was gonna admit that. Not here, not now, it was much easier to pretend to be mad that he had scared her, no matter how lame she knew it was.

If she thought him jumping out from behind doors was the best he had, she had no idea just how much worse it was gonna get.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I still think you should have come as James Bond, Luka," Neela said taking in his outfit, "although 'prince charming' suits you too," she smiled,

"Back off Cinderella, this one's mine," Abby joked,

"He's all yours," she smiled, unconsciously glancing at Ray as she did.

"Good call," Pratt said, "you don't want '_witchy'_ here casting a spell on you,"

Morris added spooky sound effects which made them all laugh, "Oooh, aahhh…… what the hell?" he added as a deafening crash come from the fire escape.

"Where's Ray?" Neela asked as she looked around to see what the commotion was and he was no where in sight.

"Oh Jesus," Morris said as they all took off in the same direction, trying to imagine what stupid thing he had done or broken now. They came to a halt, almost crashing into Neela who was frozen at the top of the stairs, her eyes frozen on Ray's body which was lying still at the bottom of them. Too still.

'**Stop standing around like an idiot,'** she inwardly screamed, **'you're a bloody doctor, do something!'**

Racing down the steps as best as her dress would allow her, she repeated her training in her head, stumbling over the words. The few seconds seemed to last a lifetime.

"**Concentrate…. Oh god…let him be ok…..think Neela think….what if he's…… don't even think of saying it……QUIET!'** she told herself,** 'calm, relax, doctor mode, NOW! You can do this.'**

Reaching her arm out she laid her shaking hand on his neck, trying to feel for a pulse, she pulled back as the others approached, her hand was shaking too much to tell properly, calming herself she tried a second time,

"Boo!"

Ray's voice sounded like an explosion as it broke the silence, his hand clasping around her wrist as he started to laugh.

"Happy Halloween Neela," he grinned cheekily, "really got you that time didn't I?"

Neela stumbled to her feet, her heart beating faster than she thought possible.

"Hey, snap out of it?" he said putting a hand on each shoulder, "It was just a joke."

Stepping unsteadily she brushed his hands away, her eyes blank as they filled with tears. The others just glared at him as she ran back into the apartment, her dress fanning out behind her dramatically.

"What?" Ray asked, fixing his clothes which had become a little ruffled. "I've been trying to scare her all day; I had to step it up a notch."

"A notch?" Abby asked, "Wearing scary masks and shouting boo is a little different than seeing your best friend lying dead on the ground in front of you."

'**Best friend?**' He'd never thought Neela saw him that way, even though he knew _he_ did.

"Bad move man," Pratt said as they all went back inside, Neela was no where to be seen.

"I'll go find her," Ray said, his head reeling,

'**How could you think that was funny? Don't you ever think?'**

XXXX

As Ray approached Abby's front door he racked his mind for all the places that Neela might have gone to. That's when it dawned on him that he didn't know his roommate as well as he thought he did. Apart from Abby and the rest of the ER guys he didn't know any of her friends.

'**Does she have any other friends?'**

She'd never had any other people come by the apartment like he did, he had Brett and the other guys from the band, who did she have?

'**She had **_**you'**_ his head reminded him **'then you go and play dead, good move idiot.'**

'**Oh get over yourself,**' the more cynical side of his mind added, '**you're not that special and **_**she's**_** not that helpless.'**

"You going or not?" Morris asked Ray who was still frozen at the door.

"Yeah," Ray breathed as he turned the handle and headed outside. His world crashed around him at what he saw, Neela was sitting at the bottom of the steps, her body shaking, but not from the cold. He had done this, he had hurt her.

**-Never again**, - he swore to himself.

"Neela?" he said, his barely audible above the breeze, "Neela?" he tried again, touching her shoulder, stepping back as her eyes fixed on him, hollow and scared.

"Don't you dare?" Neela seethed backing away as he reached out to touch her again. "What the hell were you thinking Ray?" she yelled as she paced along the sidewalk.

"I guess I wasn't," he said, "it was just a joke….I didn't mean it, I'm sorry."

"A joke," she laughed in disbelief, "You think seeing the man I love lying dead on the ground is funny…..what are you deranged? Maybe next year you could throw yourself in front of a train, I'll get a real kick out of that."

**-Neela, stop talking, NOW**! - Her head yelled at her as she realised what she had just let slip.

Ray stood in stunned silence for a moment, "Say that again," he said his body filled with hope, but not daring to believe he had really heard it.

"The bit about the train?" Neela asked lamely, turning away from him as she screwed her face up in disbelief of her stupidity.

"No, not about the train." He said, turning her to face him.

**-Now look what you've gone and done,"** Neela chastised herself, **"idiot, how are you gonna get out of this, he doesn't like you like that remember?-**

"You said you loved me?" he questioned,

**-God it sounds stupid when I say it.- **he thought,** -there's no way she does,-**

"I uh do….." she stumbled, stunning Ray….. "You're like my big brother.." she added lamely,

**-I need to be shot for that….like my brother?? So stupid-**

Ray's mind reeled, he had gone from confused, to deliriously happy to devastated in the space of seconds….where to go from there?

"I'm younger than you," he said, laying the fake smile on thick so she couldn't see his heart falling to pieces in front of her.

**-Ah, sarcasm, always a good choice-**

"Don't push it," Neela said relieved, she had gotten away with it…this time, she had to be more careful in future.

"Sorry," he said stepping towards her, "I really am," he said sincerely as he looked up from the ground, "I never meant to….."

"I know," she smiled, putting her arms around his shoulders, his arms tightening around instinctively. "Just forget about it."

**-Another thing to forget-** he thought as he pulled her closer, savouring every moment he had with her like this, he'd probably never get another chance**. –Forget anymore and I'll never even now I met her.**

"We should head back in," she said reluctantly letting go, as much as she wanted to hold him all night, she wouldn't be able to pull of the, '_you're just like my brother act'_ for long if she did.

"Heads up guys," Morris said from his watch post at the window, "Romeo and Juliet are on their way back in."

"Are you sure you saw what you think you said on the 4th?" Pratt asked, "They don't seem to making much progress if you did."

"Ssh, you were sworn to secrecy," Morris hissed,

"Like you were, you mean?" he grinned.

"Look I know what I saw," Morris said ignoring the dig at his ability to keep secret, "whether they live in denial or not is their business."

And live in denial they did…..until their carefully constructed fantasy land was bought crashing down on them by the next holiday they were forced to endure.


	6. Chapter 6

Just a short one to occupy you while I'm at work, more when get home...,maybe

Chapter 6 – Thanksgiving

"What do you mean you're not coming," Ray asked in utter disbelief as they finished running the board. "There is no, '_not coming'_ to my mother's thanksgiving dinner Neela, it just doesn't happen."

"Relax Ray, it's just a meal, not the end of the world, she doesn't even know me anyway, I'm sure she won't mind?" Neela said not understanding the need for her attendance.

"Just? Just?..." Ray stuttered, "there is no 'just' here. This is not just a holiday to her Neela, it's _the_ holiday, an event, when all the family get together. She plans it for months, why did you think I had to ask whether you wanted to come with me in April!"

Neela just stared at him in shock, she had heard of people taking things seriously but this was bordering on obsessive.

"Everything is meticulously planned; right down from the food to the place setting, it's like living with Martha Stewart. If you didn't turn up, my uncle Steve would probably end up having to sit next to my aunt Amy, or something equally crazy and all hell would break loose, you have to be there. My life depends on it, if I turn up without you know, I am officially a dead man, I _will not_ return home…do you understand? For the sake of both or our lives, you have to come."

"God, just put the boy out of his misery and say yes Neela, please, he's driving me crazy," Pratt laughed, getting her to go with him might snap them both out of their denial and he knew the entire ER would thank him for that.

"Fine, fine ok," Neela laughed, "I'll still go with you,"

"On behalf of myself and my entire family I thank you," he said taking her hand and kissing it. "I should go see some patients now," he said nervously, as he realised what he had just done. "See ya."

"So spill," Abby said, getting straight to the point,

"Spill what?" Neela asked as casually as sehe could while acting clueless,

"Don't give me that. I want to know why, after months of scheming to get thanksgiving off, you suddenly freaked out and change your mind about going. I thought the poor guy was gonna have a meltdown, I had psych on standby." Abby said jokingly, but while maintaining a stance that said there was no way Neela was getting away without a thorough explanation.

"Ok," She said directing Abby to the break room, "I may have…possibly….in a brief moment of insanity….accidentally…inferred that I might….in some sense….be in love with Ray…to his face."

"O….k," Abby said sitting down, "that explains a lot. And the reason you aren't married with 5 kids now is??" she asked, having a pretty good idea what it was.

"Yeah, that would be because I lied and covered it up," Neela said pouring some coffee, "I said that I loved him like a brother."

"And he bought that?," Abby laughed, "shame on him."

"What else was I gonna do? I had to take it back somehow, he doesn't like me that way, we're friends."

"Ri…ght," Abby said stringing out the word, clearly not buying it. "The only friend you have right now is denial." She smiled heading towards the door.

"Wait, that's it? No wise words of advice, no plan of action?" Neela asked almost begged,

"You got yourself into this, get yourself out of it," she laughed, "I'm sure Ray can help you."

"Oh great, thanks a lot," Neela said as the silence surrounded her. -**How do I get myself in to these situations…first valentines, that kiss on the 4****th****….god that was good, then you tell him you love him….idiot.. now you're meeting not only his parents but his whole family….only you could screw your life up this spectacularly Neela, only you."**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Thanksgiving (2)

"Are you ok?" Ray asked as he took their bags out of the car and Neela just stared at his house. "You hardly said a word on the way down here?"

The uneasy silence had said enough though, **-she's freaked out about spending another holiday with you, if you're not trying to shove your tongue down her throat you're scaring her to death."**

"Yeah," she smiled, "I just don't travel well." She lied; she had so much on her mind she had barely noticed there was anyone else in the car.

"This coming from the girl who travelled 3000 miles to move here?" he joked as he walked up to the door,

"A plane is slightly different to that heap of junk you laughingly call a car." She teased as he rang the door bell, her heart fluttering nervously.

**-Relax, you're the roommate not the girlfriend, this doesn't really count as 'meeting the parents'-**

"Ray! Sweetheart, you're here," came his mother's voice, stopping him from issuing a comeback to Neela's remark. "And you must be Neela, come in, come in, you must be exhausted."

"Relax," Ray whispered, as he gently pushed her into the house, "they only do ritual sacrifice at New Year."

"Everyone, Ray's here," his mother called, as Ray hugged each individual one by one, Neela didn't know how they all fit in the same house let alone the same room. Now she understood the advance planning, especially since there was a clear division in the room, one side surreptitiously glaring at the other.

Ray gave her a backwards glance as if to say he'd explain later. "Oh and this is Neela," his mother continued, "come on in, we don't bite. Neela this is Ray's Uncle Sam and his wife Amy, their daughter Rachel."

"Hi," Neela smiled shyly, she was never gonna remember this.

"And over there in the corner is his Aunt Caroline and her husband Steve, their kids Charlie and Lewis. Twins, as you can see, don't worry we can't remember which is which either," she whispered in her ear. Neela smiled back at her, she had an uncanny knack of making her feel at home.

"Oh I see Ray's disappeared, no doubt in the den with his Dad, you can call him Richard, sweetheart. I must teach those boys some manners, I'll be right back, make yourself at home," she said before disappearing herself leaving Neela in the centre of the room all eyes on her.

"Hey," she said meekly, before becoming suddenly interested on a spot on the floor.

"You don't sound like an Indian," the little girl in front of her said innocently, much to the embarrassment of her parents, who hurriedly shushed her.

"I'm not," Neela said feeling suddenly at ease talking to a child, they were much easier to deal with, "I'm from England, you know where that is?"

"She's 10 not stupid," Charlie and/or Lewis said, **-maybe not-**

"Hey, get your own friend to pick on," Ray said from behind Neela, much to her relief. "They're not as bad as they seem," he whispered at her, "just at that age where they're right and the rest of the world be damned."

"I thought that was _your_ age," she teased,

"Hey, don't start missy, you'll be sleeping in the tree house if you keep that up."

"Speaking of which I'll show you to your room, follow me …..her bags, Ray," she added, shaking her head as she looked between the bags and her son.

"Right," he said following them up the stairs.

"You'll be in Ray's old room….don't worry honey I fumigated," she teased,

"I resent that," Ray said setting Neela's bag down by the bed, memories of old times flooding in….ok maybe _his_ mom was right.

"So where am I?" Ray asked,

"In here," his mother said matter of factly as Neela waited for the ground to swallow her whole, this couldn't be happening.

"No, Neela's in here remember," Ray said his voice tinged with nerves,

"Yes I remember son, I'm not senile." She smiled at him, "there's not enough space for a room each and I thought as you Neela are usually roommates you could share. We're all adults here right?" she asked,

**-Yeah, that's the problem-** Ray thought**, -If I share with Neela I'll be having some very adult thoughts that she won't be able to miss**-

"Unless _you_ want to sleep in the tree house," she teased,

Ray looked nervously between Neela, the floor and his mother.

"I'm ok to share…..if you are" Neela said equally as nervous as Ray.

"Sure, I guess," Ray smiled timidly.

"Excellent, well now that's sorted we can go and get something to drink and get to know each other."

Neela hoped she his mother hadn't seen the look of fear in her eyes as they headed back downstairs, forget Halloween this was scaring the hell out of her.

"Ah, here he is, the prodigal husband." Ray's mom smiled as they entered the kitchen.

"Richard right?" Neela smiled shyly as she came face to face with the spitting image of Ray only older.

"Yes, and you must be Neela, Maggie's told me so much about you," he smiled warmly.

-**So much? I only just met her,-** she thought as she looked at Ray who was fighting to hide a blush.

"My, my," Richard said taking a proper look at her, "If this were 20 years ago……"

"You'd be arrested cos Neela would be a minor," Ray finished for him with a grin on his face,

"Enough of that talk, can't you see you're embarrassing the poor girl," Maggie interrupted, "oh please do sit down dear." She added handing her a cup of coffee, which Neela noticed had been made just the way she liked it. Looking questioningly at Ray, he just winked at her. _– _**Just how much does he tell her about me?-**

"So, tell me all about yourself dear……" –**Clearly not that much**- she thought trying to hide a sigh, before she started her story.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Thanksgiving (3)

"So how are we gonna do this?" Ray asked as they both stood at the foot of his bed, just staring nervously at it.

"Um, well I could just go change in the bathroom," Neela said, her hands starting to shake, she felt like a school with her first crush.

"Bathroom will be a no go area for quite some time, Charlie and Lewis have invaded. You can just change in here, I won't peak I promise," he grinned playfully covering his eyes, his nerves suddenly erased as they fell back into their banter.

"You better not if you want to keep those pretty green eyes of yours," she smiled back,

-**Pretty green eyes? Could you be more obvious?-**

He just smiled at her before turning around, his nerves fighting back through.

**-I can't believe she's getting naked in my room…my **_**childhood**_** room**- he laughed to himself.

"What?" she asked, had he seen something? **– god forbid!-**

"I was just thinking that I've never had a girl '_sleep over'_ in here before." He laughed.

"Well you're certainly making up for it in your new room," she answered without thinking, **- harsh much?-** "I'm done," she added, hoping he hadn't taken too much offence.

Slowly he turned back to face her, marvelling at how in only sweat pants and a tank top she managed to take his breath and any coherent thought away.

"Do I wanna know?" she asked as she eyed a hole in the wall curiously,

"Oh right," he smiled, "I was 8, my guitar didn't wanna play nice so I smashed it into the wall, unfortunately it smashed back."

"I can just see that," she smiled, "god you must have been a cute kid."

**-Neela…. mouth….shut ….now – **

"So why is it still there?" she asked, trying to cover up her sentimental faux pas,

"My parents said it was to remind why I shouldn't ask for a new guitar anytime soon," he grinned as he remembered something, "but I sulked for a week and my mom got me a new one anyway,"

"Even at that age you knew how to play a woman," she smiled,

**- Did you not just hear me to tell you to shutup!-** she chastised herself, blaming the proximity of the bed for her stupid outbursts, the thought of being in it with Ray destroying her ability to filter out her insanity.

"So my turn?" he asked more than said, sensing things were getting weird,

"I won't peak," she smiled as she sat on the bed and faced away from him.

"You've seen it all before," he smirked as he pulled his shirt over his head, his hand freezing on the button of his jeans as Neela turned forgetfully and opened her mouth to answer him.

**-She may have seen it before, but having her watch you is a whole different thing-**

"Sorry," she said quickly turning back around, getting into her side of the bed. She never turned back to face him as she heard his zipper fall.

For the first time in the existence of him living at home he folded his jeans and shirt neatly and placed them on the chair by his bed, anything to prolong the act of climbing into bed with her. The mere thought of it driving him crazy, this was the stuff his dreams were made off, it wasn't meant to come true, as much as he wanted it to.

Pulling back the cover slowly he sat on the edge of the bed and took a long, silent breath, looking over his shoulder at her lying there….lying there in _his_ bed. Her arms wrapped around _his_ quilt, her hair resting on _his_ pillow, not being able to touch her breaking _his_ heart.

"Sorry," he said as he lay down and made her jump slightly, "always did have cold feet,"

"No problem," she said smiling secretly to herself, **-so that explains the socks-**

Her arm was slowly growing numb, she desperately wanted to move but that risked accidentally touching him, god forbid, sleeping was fine, touching was forbidden…..the age old rule of sleepovers with a boy, **-you're a grown woman for god's sake, not 15, get a grip!-**

"So this is weird," he said turning to face her, her eyes now transfixed to the ceiling, having dared to move her head. "What?" he asked as she started laughing.

"I was just thinking about what your mom said, we _are _grown ups after all," she said turning on her side to face him, "doctors no less, if we can handle emergency surgery, I think we can work this one out."

In the brief moment she had been lying there she had decided that neither of them would get any sleep if they kept up their nervous school kids act, they had to grow up and act accordingly….at least that was the plan. Looking into his eyes, which were inches away from hers, not to mention various other parts of his body, the plan was becoming increasingly difficult to implement.

"So what's the deal with the aunt's and uncles?" she asked blinking to break his gaze,

"Oh you noticed that?" Ray smirked,

"Kind of hard to miss," Neela smiled

"Well, Sam is married to Amy and Caroline is married to Steve," he explained,

"Yeah, got that," Neela nodded,

"Yeah, but it seems for a while Amy and Steve forgot that and you can guess the rest…."

"They had an affair?!….wow, no wonder they all look set to kill each other. And they're all still married….to their original partners right?"

"Yeah, ….for the kids," Ray said, resting his head on his arm, his fingertips brushing Neela's arm as he moved.

"Well," she said, not missing the contact, however brief, "better get some sleep,"

"Yeah, goodnight," he said as she turned her back to him and curled up into a ball. He just stayed where he was and watched her, sleep finally claiming him an hour or so later much to his regret.

XXXX

"What the hell?" Ray exclaimed as something hard impacted his stomach rudely awaking him. He looked around the room while his eyes slowly adjusted, soon finding the culprit, Neela was tossing and turning, whimpering in her sleep.

"Neela," he whispered brushing the hair out of her face, "Neela wake up,"

"No…..no….." she mumbled, "can't be…..help him……"

"Neela?" he said more strongly, "It's ok….wake up."

"Ray?" she asked as her eyes fluttered open, "What? What's going on?"

"You had a bad dream," he smiled as she sat up and took a deep breath, "you were trying to help someone?" he added, his best attempt at subtly finding out what was in her dream.

"No I wasn't….oh….well yeah I was…but only in the dream…..in reality the person…..you were fine….so it doesn't……I'm tired and confused, lets take later ok." She said trying to backtrack,

**-Did I just say **_**you**_**?-**Seeing the horror stricken look on Ray's face, she realised that yes, she had in fact just said the worst thing possible.

"You were dreaming about Halloween?" he asked, the pain clear in his voice,

"Dream isn't really what I'd call it," Neela quipped automatically,

**-Would you just shut up? -** Her head scorned.

"No, wait, I didn't mean that," she said as Ray ran his hand over his eyes, this was clearly as rough on him as it had been on her.

"It's ok, I deserve it….I am _so_ sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen I swear."

"I know," she said putting a supporting hand on his shoulder, "It was just a stupid dream."

"Caused by an equally stupid guy," he said reproachfully, "why don't I think?"

"Look, it's the past, it happened, we can't change it, just get some sleep ok, I'm sorry I woke you."

"You can wake me up anytime," he said looking her in the eye, his hand cupping her cheek "wait that sounded stupid, I meant…."

"I know what you meant," she smiled, leaning gently against his hand, before pushing him towards the pillows, "sleep,"

He lay back as she rested beside him, this time facing him, bravely she lay her head on his chest, her hand lying on the smooth skin of his chest, the feel of her warm skin almost scalding him in the cool air.

"**And what do we think we're doing young lady?"** her father's voie scalded her,

-**Hugging** – she defended herself, **-it's been a rough night, it's allowed….friends hug-**

**-Hugging generally involves clothes and being vertical**– her father reminded her.

Deciding that maybe this time the voices were right, she slowly moved her hand back and lifted her head, only to be stopped by Ray putting a hand on her shoulder and wrapping his free arm around her waist from behind her, pulling her closer. He knew he'd have some explaining to do in the morning , right now he just wanted to hold her, live the sweetest dream just once in his life. He wrapped the arm that had been resting on his waist fully around her back when she didn't shy away, his hand curling around her shoulder, her small body now fully encased in his arms. He smiled as he tilted his head towards her, the scent of her, the same one from Valentines Day, surrounding him.

As he held her in his arms her body now moulded to his, he didn't know how he had ever managed to sleep without her.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews, glad you like it, and hope you continue to**

Chapter 9 – Thanksgiving (4)

The gentle rhythm of his heart soothed her as her eyes fluttered open early that morning, her body still wrapped up in his, his strong arms holding her close. Running a hand over his chest, she memorised what she would never feel again before drifting back to sleep, and that was how he found her later that morning when he stirred for the first time.

Releasing her slightly from his arms he stretched gently, which was hard given that her legs had somehow gotten entwined in his and he could barely move. A smile on his face he brushed her hair out of her eyes and gently traced the contours of her face, she was perfect. Turning his head to face her as much as he could, he gently pressed his lips to her forehead causing her to stir slightly. Lying as still as a statue, his heart pounded, sure he must be able to hear it from where he was he did everything he could to calm down, relaxing when he released she wasn't going to wake up. Sliding his arms lightly up her body he put them back in their original position and held her close, sleep coming quickly as he held the woman he loved in his arms.

XXXX

**-Oh god, tell me I didn't –** Neela thought, her heart racing, **- you were supposed to move, you probably drooled all over him-**

Moving her head slowly, she let out a sigh of relief as she realised she had managed to keep her mouth shut**….-you should do it more often with the stupid stuff you come out with-**

**Go or stay, go or stay….**her mind repeated, the mantra getting her nowhere.

"Hmm stay," Ray mumbled sleepily, his grip tightening on her as she tried to move away,

**Oh god he can hear my thoughts!**

**He just thinks you're someone else, don't get your hopes up**

"Hey," he said rubbing his eyes, as she rested awkwardly on her elbow, his arm around her preventing her from moving properly, "Oh," he said sensing where his arm was, "Sorry, I didn't mean to,"

Mentally slapping himself he moved his arm away, wishing he'd had the courage to slide it down her body away from her rather than just lifting it gracelessly as she tried to extricate her leg from his.

"Look, about last night," he started,

Neela smiled on the inside at how terribly clichéd those words were,

"It's ok I get it," she said cutting him off, wanting to get out of the bed and the room as quickly as she could, the temptation to just pin him to the bed and kiss him senseless overwhelming her, "it was a rough night, we needed a friend, no big deal, just two friends sleeping," she said, tactfully missing out the _together_ part.

"Yeah just friends," he smiled, verbalizing what had unconsciously become the motto of their relationship

"Yeah sure," she smiled back over brightly to compensate for her nervousness and disappointment.

"Well, I guess one of us better get the bathroom before the twins attack," she said practically jumping out of the bed, leaving Ray alone in his room.

He just lay back and smiled, remembering the feel of her in his arms, the gentleness of her touch. He may never feel it again but at least he had that to remember on the many lonely nights that were sure to come.

XXXX

"Sleep well?," Richard asked as he came into the kitchen the next morning.

"Great," Ray smiled as he stole a sneaky glance at Neela, "Never better,"

Neela looked shyly at the table, stirring her spoon around her coffee cup, biting her lip to hide the huge childlike grin she was having trouble holding back.

"Would you get out of my way?" Maggie shrieked as for the millionth time that morning a child raced past her. "Ray, if you ever give those kids candy at 8 in the morning again, son or no son, I'll kill you."

"Love you too Mom," he grinned, "and I told them not to eat it yet, not my fault hey didn't listen."

"Giving candy to kids and asking them not to eat it is like giving a girl's number to Morris and asking him not to use it," Neela said,

"You're supposed to be on my side," he said, standing and pretending to lunge menacingly at her. "No more extra anchovies on the pizza for you, young lady."

"That's blackmail," she said standing and putting her hands on her hips, squaring up to him as much as she could given her significant height disadvantage. He leaned down to meet her height, winking at her as she smirked.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" he teased, putting his hand on her forehead and pushing her back so she couldn't reach him anymore.

"No fair," she laughed, falling into him as he moved his arm down to his side. His arm wrapping slightly around her as she stumbled against him, both of them completely unaware of his parents watching them. Using his free hand he reached up to gently brush the hair out of her eyes, his brushing against her cheek as he pulled away. Realising where they were, he stepped back uncomfortably letting go of her, her eyes never met his, she was too busy trying to hide her blush.

"Why don't you take Neela for a tour around town while I set up in here, I need as much space as I can get and it might be something nice for you to do…_together_." She added not so subtly. "Plus I need some stuff from the store, ok I need some pomegranates," she started, Rachel was going through a phase where that was all she would eat,

"That's P.O.M…." Maggie dictated to Neela who was writing the list, she'd grabbed the pen out of Ray's hand as soon as he had picked it up, eyeing him pointedly. His handwriting was appalling and he knew it, if he wrote the list god knows what they'd end up coming back with.

"She's English, not illiterate Mom," Ray smiled cheekily,

"We'll have less of the back chat thank you very much," she scolded him cheerfully as Neela slapped his arm playfully,

"Well, that should do it," Maggie said finishing the list, "see you kids later."

XXXX

"And this was my high school," he said finishing his impromptu tour of the town he had insisted on taking her on before they went shopping,

"Saving the best till last eh?" she smiled,

"Kind of, probably best we don't visit there though," he smiled conspiratorially, "I may not be so welcome, they're kind of missing half a science lab due an unfortunate experiment of mine."

"No way!" she laughed, "You're kidding,"

"I wish," he said undoing his watch and showing her a faded scar from an acid burn.

-So that's why he has such a wide watch – she smiled, -I always thought it was cos it looked it hot.

"I would have loved to have seen there faces when it happened," she smiled, sending a shiver through Ray as she traced the scar with her fingertips.

"Wish you could have been there," he said, "I wouldn't have gotten into to half as much trouble," even though he felt like he had known her for years it still surprised him how little they had actually shared together.

"Well maybe you can re-enact it for me one day." She joked, getting a enthusiastic shake of the head from.

"No way,"

"Thanks for inviting me here, I…." Neela started,

"My _mom_ invited you," he blurted out without thinking,

"Oh," she said looking at the ground dejected, "never mind then,"

"No, wait," he said taking her by the arm as she started to leave, "I just meant she invited you _first_…and _I_ said that it was _ok_, that you could come….I mean….not that I would assume to answer for you….I just….. you can tell me to stop digging at any time you know?" he said shaking his head as he caught the grin on her face.

"And ruin all my fun?" she said nudging him, "you were doing so well too,"

"We should get back, my mom knows how big this town is and is gonna end up sending a search party if I keep you out any longer than necessary."

"I thought she wanted us out of her way," Neela asked confused,

"Yes, but she would prefer to know our exact whereabouts at all times, it's easier to meddle that way," he teased, "come on, god forbid if we're late for dinner."

X X X X

"Neela, would you like to say what you're thankful for?" Maggie asked her, "we have a different person do it each year."

"Oh no I don't think I should, I'm not family, plus I've never done it before." She said sending a pleading look at Ray who sat across from her.

"It's fine," he mouthed at her,

"Just say anything dear, it doesn't have to be special, we're all ordinary folk around here," Richard said,

"Um, ok," she said surveying the eyes of the very hungry, very impatient people around her. "I suppose that I'm thankful for my friends," she said looking again at Ray, "I don't have any family around here and they're the closest thing I have to it….so um…. yeah I guess I'm thankful for that…." She said hoping they would accept that as enough.

Ray pressed the tip of his knife into the table as memories of being compared to her brother came over him, being family sucked, but if that was all he could get he'd take it.

"So can we eat now or what?" Lewis interrupted.

As the food was served Neela glanced over at Ray who once again seemed lost in his thoughts, that had been happening a lot lately, she wished he'd just get it off his chest and tell her what was up. Maybe he just didn't like holidays, it always seemed to be those that made the strangest things happen to or between them. Well Christmas was coming up, maybe she'd crack the puzzle then.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 11 – Christmas (1)

"You just had thanksgiving off, how did you wrangle Christmas too?" Abby asked in disbelief.

"It's called charm," he smiled,

"It's called bribery," Neela retorted,

"Busted!" Pratt teased,

"Well if that's they way you want to play it Neela, you wont want to come to my parents with me then will you?" he said, he'd been trying to think of a way to ask her all day, this seemed as good a way as any.

"I couldn't even if I did," she said, surprisingly disappointed that she couldn't go, she'd gotten on quite well with them last time.

"Well it just so happened that I charmed…ok bribed, some time off for you too, wasn't going to leave you all alone at Christmas now was I? So do you want to come?" he asked, his entire happiness resting on one answer.

"What's the likelihood of you living to New Year if I say no?" she asked cheerfully,

"Non-existent," he said playing along,

"Then I guess I have no choice," she gave in,

"Great, we leave tomorrow." He said disappearing as she yelled after him.

"Tomorrow? You know I can't pack in less than a day," she joked,

Despite her stern look she couldn't help but grin when he threw a cheeky wink over his shoulder. He could get away with murder where she was concerned….and he knew it, if only he knew the rest.

XXXX

"You're here at last, come in, come in," Maggie beamed as she ushered them into the living room, "take a seat before everyone else gets her, it's your only chance."

"We would have been here earlier but _someone_ took forever choosing what to bring." Ray teased,

"Yeah well _someone_ only gave me a night's notice," Neela countered, feeling totally

at ease around his parents, it felt just like home.

"Ok fine, blame it all on me why don't you," he said taking a seat next to her, as her eye caught something on the fire place.

"Yeah, I know, you feel like you're trapped in a lifetime movie right?" he asked as he looked at the red stocking hanging from the fire place, her name embroidered onto it in delicate white writing. He couldn't help smiling as he saw that his Mom had placed it next to his….just where it belonged. "That's just my Mom's style," he smiled at her.

"It's great," she said finally taking her eyes off of it to look at him, "Really sweet."

"You must have impressed her, none on of the others got one," he said trying to be encouraging, but kicking himself when the implication of his words hit him.

**-None of the others….way to go….make her think you've bought loads of girls home-**

**-Um….you have-** his conscience kicked in**, -besides you're not 'bringing her home' she's 'just a friend'-**

**-Got anymore cliché's you wanna throw at me?-** Ray sighed as he looked at Neela,

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded," he apologised,

"Forget it," she smiled,

**-God how many more times is one of gonna say that, we'll forget our entire friendship if we aren't careful….this is so messed up-**

"Coffee?" Maggie asked, unknowingly breaking the tension with her excellent timing.

"How about something a little stronger?" Richard asked as he joined them,

"Beware the eggnogg,"Ray whispered in his ear, determined not to let one stupid sentence ruin the weekend "one glass and you'll be all over the place."

"Oh I think I can take it," she smiled back at him, feeling brave.

"Your hangover," he smiled resting back in his seat as she took a sip from the glass she had been given.

"Good," she spluttered, Ray just raised his eyebrows and laughed at her. **–told you-**

"So if it's ok you two are sharing again?" Maggie said, sure that there would be no problem, even if they protested she could tell they both secretly wanted it.

"Sure," they both said attempting nonchalance.

"Excellent, well merry Christmas Eve everyone," Richard said, raising a glass in a toast.

**XXXX**

"Shhh," Ray laughed as they stumbled up the stairs, his hands around her waist to steady her, "You'll wake the kids. Ow…." He added as she stepped on his foot, "Watch it." He said breaking into laughter again as he picked her up and carried her to his room, he had forgone his own warning about the eggnog and was now on the wrong side of tipsy himself. Neela though was much further gone due to her size, or lack of it.

"Stop shaking the room," Neela slurred, causing Ray to almost drop her in his haste to put her down, the last thing he needed was her throwing up over him. "Got ya," she beamed as she fell onto the bed and lay on her back.

Ray shook his head and smiled as he knelt down in front of her to remove her shoes.

"What you doing?" she asked sitting up slowly so she was looking down him, his head level with her shoulders.

"What's it look like?" he asked, bravery taken the place of common sense,

"Trying to take my clothes off," she laughed, the look on Ray's face was priceless. She didn't know where her flirtatious side had come from but she liked it, she knew it was mostly the drink taking, but she was still in there somewhere. She wanted this, and as far as she could tell he did too, why mess it up with irrational fears.

"Yes Neela," he smiled joining in the silliness, "I am indeed trying to take your clothes off," he said leaning in close to her, his face inches from hers. His inhibitions were gone, for now at least, tomorrow he'd have some explaining to do, "Got a problem with that?"

**-To hell with it-** he told himself.

"Never," she said her voice husky as he slid his hands from her knees to her waist.

**-Oooh, you're so gonna regret this tomorrow**, - her inner voice teased.

His eyes locked on hers as he inched closer, the distance seemed eternal…but then it happened, his lips were on hers, his hands were in her hair and he was living his dream, for the second time, he was the luckiest guy in the world. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she leaned forward, her body resting on the edge of the bed, craving his touch, she needed to be closer. Sensing this he smiled, lifting her off the bed and down on to the floor, so that she was wedged between it and him. Shifting her weight she moved so that she was in his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist, her tongue delved deeper, tasting the alcohol that had enabled this moment, normally this would be the part where she would sober her up and change her mind… back down, but not this time, she needed this, she never wanted to let go. His arms wrapped around her entire body holding her to him as she lifted herself up to press herself closer,

"Didn't I tell you not to touch that?" his mother's voice floated up the stairs. Judging by the almighty crash that had come before it, her husband had just knocked something over. Neela couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips, leaning back slightly as Ray looked towards the door and laughed himself. Looking back at her he put his hand to her cheek….her flushed cheek….flushed from alcohol, not to mention other things.

**-Alcohol….she's drunk….you're taking advantage….she'll hate you in the morning….you have to stop now-**

"Neela," he said holding her back as she leaned back into him, "we can't….this is….we're friends….we can't," he stuttered as she clambered from his arms. Her back was to him as he rose and approached her, his hand shaking as he reached for her. She shrugged off his touch as she blinked back tears and took a deep breath,

**-You can do this….-**

**-No I can't-**

**-You have too, come on now, brave face….you know it well, you **_**can**_** do this-**

"Friends?" she asked warily, her voice drenched in disappointment. That one word replaced a thousand, it told them both what needed to be said, this was a mistake…… can't risk our friendship…..sorry….blah blah blah.

**-This is getting ridiculous -** she thought, the constant back and forth of emotions driving her crazy- I** have to talk to him and find out the truth about exactly what he feels-**

"Always," he said, smiling through the devastation.

**-You've got to stop doing this to yourself-**

"Goodnight then," Neela said slipping in to bed fully clothed, this was going to be one hell of a sleepless night.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 12 - Christmas (2)

Ray's heart sank as he felt the empty space beside him, she was gone, unable to stick around and face him that morning after what he had done.

"Hey," he said as he finally made his way into the kitchen that morning, getting the point loud and clear when they all turned to face him….all but one.

**-She can't even look at you-**

"About time son, we thought we'd lost you," Maggie smiled, "the kids have been dying to open their presents."

"You could have started without me" he said, looking at the faces of three very bemused children.

"Excuse me," Neela said getting up from the counter and heading towards the door.

"Ooh look, you're under the mistletoe," Rachel cooed, presents momentarily forgotten at the prospect of seeing someone kiss, she was the most romantic 10 year old Ray had ever met.

Neela paused under the door frame, looking up at the sprig above her and then at Ray, normally this would be an ideal situation, a 'free' kiss, no strings attached, but not now.

"Hey, you didn't kiss," Rachel said disappointedly as Ray stepped aside and let Neela pass him, he knew how much she needed to leave, being the centre of attention was her worst nightmare at the best of times, this must be killing her.

"Looks like someone's in the dog house?" Steve laughed as he saw Ray fidgeting in the doorway, deciding whether to stay or go.

"Uh….I'll be right back," Ray said as he left the room,

"He certainly knows how to make a mess of things doesn't he?" Amy smiled,

"And you don't?" Maggie added looking between her and Steve pointedly, no-one made a dig about her son and got away with it, he was doing his best.

XXXX

"I can drive you home if you want." Ray said as he came up behind her in the garden,

"I don't want to leave Ray," she said turning to face him, her eyes blank, "I want to know what's going on. What this is? What we are? The mixed signals are driving me insane."

"What mixed signals?" he asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Neela, "Ok, _those_ signals," he said giving in, playing dumb wasn't going to work here. "Look, about last night….and July," –**not to mention the rest of the times I overstepped the mark.** "I said I was sorry, I didn't mean to kiss you…I just….you know, I was drunk….it just happened."

**-Liar!! You wanted to do it and you know it….she kissed you back, she wanted it too-**

**-She was drunk…she didn't know what she was doing….-**

"Right… so you're saying you only kissed me because you were drunk and you wouldn't have done it if you weren't, it didn't mean anything?" she asked, knowing she would regret it, his answer would only add to her torment.

**-See-** his head mocked him**, -she wants it to mean nothing, she doesn't want you, not like that.**

"Exactly," he said, his voice falsely bright, "you don't have to worry about me ever doing it again. I'll leave you in peace I swear."

**-He thinks you don't want him to kiss you**- she thought, finally figuring it out.

**-Or he's just saying that cos it really was a mistake and he hasn't got the heart to tell you he doesn't want you that way-** her pessimistic side kicked in. **–you need to move on-**

"So we good?" he asked, the silence deafening him,

"Sure," she lied, "we're good….guess we better get back in."

**- If I spend anymore time alone with you I'll say something stupid, I need other people around me so I can hide. –**

"Everything alright son?" his dad asked him when they got back to the kitchen,

"Sure, just misses her family that's all," he lied; this was not the time or place for a father-son bonding moment.

"They're all in the living room, Charlie and Lewis were about ready to tear each other apart so we figured presents would be a good distraction."

"Good idea," Ray smiled following his Dad to the others who were surrounded by mounds of coloured paper.

"My turn, my turn?" Rachel bounced excitedly,

"Actually sweetie, I think it's Ray's turn," Maggie said searching around the tree, "here you go honey,….oh it's from Neela…is it ok for him to have that one now?" she asked, not wanting to give out what wasn't hers to give,

"Huh, what?" Neela said snapping out of her daydream and looking back from the window she had been staring out of, "Um ,sure I guess, if you want to," she said looking at Ray.

"Thanks," he said taking a seat as he took the envelope from his mother. Turning it over in his hands he raised an eyebrow as he looked at Neela, all the drama of outside gone as he turned into as much a child as the real children. Neela smiled back at him, he was adorable and had the uncanny knack of making her forget everything else in her head….which wasn't always a good thing, but after the conversation outside and the resignation that she was now and would only ever be his friend, it was a welcome relief.

"Open it then," she said, "the kids look about ready to lynch you if they have to wait much longer,"

Sliding his finger under the seal, he felt the cool metal of a key, pulling it out; he looked at it quizzically,

"A key?" he asked, "I don't get it,"

"Look at the rest of it then," she smiled, moving to sit closer to him, "here let me do it." She said taking it out of his hands and showing him the brochure inside for a recording studio, "Now before you get too excited I didn't buy you a recording studio, as much as I would love to get you and Brett to play somewhere else at 3am I couldn't afford the luxury,"

Ray smiled at her, she really was amazing,

"But, I _did_ buy you some time in one, and if you play your cards right you may be able to negotiate some more for free." She smiled, this was a great present and she knew it, she was very pleased with herself,

"Wh….How did you….this is so great," he said putting his arms around, "the band are gonna love you forever,"

"A friend of my brother's owns the studio, he mentioned to him that he needed an assistant, I told my brother Brett needed a job, who told his friend who said Brett should give him a call. His number is in the envelope….employees get use of the studio for free when it's not booked."

Ray looked at her in astonishment, "You….I can't believe….." he stuttered, before finally settling on "Thankyou,"

"Oh believe me it's more a present to me than it is to you," she joked, "I mean, I like you guys and I like rock, I just don't like them together in my apartment."

"Point taken," he said waving the envelope in the air,

"Are you guys gonna talk forever or can we have another present?" one of the twins asked,

"Don't be so rude," Caroline scolded him, "for that you can wait one more turn, Neela hasn't had anything yet,"

"That's right," Neela agreed, "Ray didn't you have something for her?"

"Yeah sure, although it seems kind of lame now though," he said apologetically as he handed her an A3 sized present, that was suspiciously frame shaped.

"Thanks," Neela said as she pulled the paper away from it, "Wow," she smiled as she saw pictures of him and her from throughout the year arranged in a collage in front of her…. "it's……."

"Stupid right?" he said disappointedly, "sorry I was never good at presents."

"I was gonna say incredible," Neela said placing it down as she hugged him, "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.

-**Thank god-** Ray said relaxing, he wasn't sure if a permanent reminder of that year would be a good thing, considering everything they had gone through.

"You're welcome," he said as she retook her seat across from him, "Um ….. I actually got you something else too, encase you hated it….here." he said handing her a small rectangular box, "hope you like it."

Her eyes glistened as she took the paper off her surprise gift, Ray had to be the most thoughtful guy she had ever mad, a little clueless, but thoughtful.

"It's beautiful," she sighed happily as she traced her fingers along the delicate chain down to the star shaped pendant at the end of it, "Thank you so much."

"Well I figure you deserve it for putting up with me for so long."

"So is it our turn now?" Ray smiled at his cousins, as always, they had impeccable timing.

This trip hadn't gone the way he had expected, as always the holiday had bought too many surprises, he was just glad their friendship had managed to survive them.

**-Let's hope it lasts, -** he thought, New Year was approaching too fast for his liking.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the delay, got distracted by other stuff

Chapter 13 – New years eve (1)

"Ok that is the last time I ever let you drive," Ray said gripping the sides of his seat for effect.

"Oh quit whining," Neela smiled as they headed to the apartment, "Is it my fault your Dad spiked your drink? No! And my driving is perfectly fine thank you very much."

Ray smiled as he dug his keys out of his pocket, his expression turning into a frown when the door swung open without being unlocked.

"What the hell?" he said as he cautiously stepped inside, holding Neela behind him with his arm. Hearing a noise to his side, he turned swiftly, his free arm locking around the intruder. Looking back to ensure Neela was safe he unintentionally allowed the intruder to gain the upper hand and pin him against the wall.

"Hmm, you're cute," the unknown man smiled at him, keeping Ray with his back pressed against the wall. Ray looked around in confusion, they had an intruder which was bad enough…but insane when they were checking you out.

"Put the straight boy down Ash," Neela sighed, rolling her eyes,

"Spoil sport," he smiled stepping back from Ray, who could now hear the distinct traces of English in his accent,

"You know this guy?" he asked baffled,

"Ash meet Ray, Ray meet Ash…my morally challenged brother," Neela said wearily, eyeing her brother with distaste.

"I don't think he likes me," Ash whispered playfully behind his hand, but still loud enough for them all to hear.

"Yeah, well that's the general reaction when someone breaks into your home. When you told me you had a new job I didn't expect it to be breaking and entering." Neela said clearly not impressed.

"Oh come on, you know I save that especially for family members," Ash answered, giving her a grin to ask forgiveness.

"It's not me you have to impress," she said, eyeing Ray who was collecting his thoughts in the kitchen.

"Look," Ash said to Ray, "Sorry about the whole breaking in thing, it's just you guys weren't home and I _really_ needed the bathroom, it was a total emergency. Forgiven?"

Ray looked between Ash and Neela and back again, "Sure," Ray smiled, unable to believe how the same parents could create two so dissimilar children. "Coffee?"

"Allow me," Ash said heading straight for it much to Ray's surprise, "I looked around a little," he explained,

"A little?" Neela chuckled as she sat on the sofa, "Don't be surprised if he's tried on everything you own." Neela said looking in Ray's direction.

"Yeah, speaking of which," Ash continued, "Eyeliner? Not that I'm not partial to it myself but I'm not really seeing it on you,"

"Oh you should," Neela smiled, forgetting Ray was around and slipping into her normal banter with her brother, "totally hot."

**-You did not just say that!-**

**-Did she just say that?-** Ray thought,

"Hmm, yeah I guess I can see that," Ash smiled handing them mugs, what he could definitely see was the amazing chemistry his baby sister had with her 'friend.'

"So, not that I don't love seeing you, but why exactly are you here?" Neela asked sidestepping the awkward moment as much as she could.

"I was in town visiting Max," he answered a slight sigh in his voice,

"Didn't go well?" Neela asked sharing his pain, love was a bitch.

"Afraid not, he's still as closeted as ever. I don't know why I thought it would change…anyway," he said not wanting to dwell," after seeing him I was drowning myself in self pity and I thought of you….."

"Oh thanks very much," Neela said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, Ray just sat back and smiled, he loved watching her when she was this relaxed.

"Not what I meant," Ash said waving a hand at her to tell her to be quiet so he could finish his story, "So, I thought of you and thought I would invite you to this kick ass new years eve party I'm going to….your boy toy can come along too," he said smiling at Ray, who took that moment to decorate his shirt with coffee.

**-Smooth -**

"You do know that no matter how many times you come on to him he's still gonna be straight right?" Neela said, making a mental note to kill her brother for the boy toy remark and tell him never to say kick ass again, he'd been living in America way too long.

"I know," he sighed playfully, "so not fair, the cute ones are always straight…just look at George Clooney for example, now there goes the dream man, such a waste."

**- I could think of a better dream** – Neela thought, forcing herself not to look in Ray's direction.

"So what's your dream guy?" Ash asked,

"Don't have one," She lied,

"Oh come on, everyone does….I bet Ray does, don't you?" he asked, turning to face him "well girl anyway."

Ray froze; he was having a great time observing the conversation, being a part of it was however not part of the plan.

"Um, yeah," he stammered, not knowing what to do "she's smart, kind, generous, beautiful," he said fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Sounds amazing" Ash said knowingly, eyeing his sister, who was conveniently looking elsewhere.

"Oh she is," Ray said absentmindedly, before swiftly kicking himself.

**-Idiot!-**

"She's real?" Neela said, a lump forming in her throat, "You'll have to let us meet her some time."

-**No wonder he keeps saying he wants to be friends, he has someone else –**

Sensing his sister's discomfort Ash figured it would be good opportunity to change the subject,

"So….until this party…I'm gonna need a place to stay?" he said leaving the implication in the air. She'd say yes, she always did, and Ray wouldsay yes because it was what _she_ wanted, their couch was a sure thing, him knocking some sense into them however may prove to be more difficult.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Sorry for the delay, real life keeps dragging me away. 

Chapter 14 – New years eve (2)

"God, how can you stand this silence? Ash said pretending to tear his hair out before putting on the radio.

"Silence?" Neela asked, "you haven't shut up since you got here," She loved her brother but after spending 6 straight days with him she understood why Ray liked being an only child.

Humming along to the melody of the song now filling the apartment Neela started tidying up, living with both her brother and Ray, it seemed that was all she ever did these days.

_Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see  
That I want and I'm needing everything that we should be  
I'll bet she's beautiful, that girl he talks about  
And she's got everything that I have to live without  
_

Neela's hands froze on the cushion she was fluffing, the words hitting close to home after Ray had made the qualities of his dream girl….no 'real life' dream girl public several days before.

_  
Drew talks to me, I laugh cause it's so damn funny  
That I can't even see anyone when he's with me  
He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right,  
I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night_

Ash's heart broke for his little sister as she looked at him, the signs that she was holding back tears obvious to him. He'd seen it too many times before.  
_  
He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star  
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do_

"Hey what's up?" Ray said stepping out of the bathroom, with only a towel around his waist, silencing both the people in front of him. "What?" he asked oblivious to the words surrounding him.

"Nothing," Neela said tearing her eyes away from him, "I better get a shower myself if we want to get to the party on time"

"Ok that was weird," Ray said, brushing the water out of his hair.

"Was it?" Ash asked, "ssh, just listen," he told Ray as he tried to answer. The lack of conversation forcing him to register the words he had been missing before.

_Drew walks by me, can he tell that I can't breathe?  
And there he goes, so perfectly,  
The kind of flawless I wish I could be  
She'd better hold him tight, give him all her love  
Look in those beautiful eyes and know she's lucky cause  
_

"Change the name to Ray and you get how she feels right now_"?_

_He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star  
He's the song in the car I keep singi……  
_

"Don't be crazy," Ray said, abruptly shutting off the music,

**-I'm not that lucky –**

"I'm not, I know my sister, and I also know that she won't tell you how she feels, she's too scared. The last time she opened up she wound up picking pieces of her heart of the floor for months. You have to make the first move."

**-I did…twice…didn't work so well.-**

"I….look we're ….."

"If the next word out of your mouth is friends, I'll smack you silly," Ash warned him, ……."You kissed her didn't you?" he asked with a smirk on her face as he saw Ray's guilty yet confused look, "that's what all this tension is about. How was it?"

Instead of being freaked out that Ash was asking what kissing his sister was like, Ray just lamely answered, "Which time?"

"She let you do it more than once, I'm impressed, guess it must have been good then,"

"Well apparently 'good' isn't good enough, if it was we wouldn't be having this conversation," Ray said plainly,

"No, I'm sure you'd be doing something more productive with your mouth," Ash grinned,

"You're sick, you know that," Ray smirked despite the sombre tone of the conversation,

"Good job you're a doctor then," he said winking at him,

"Still straight though," Ray joked,

"I know, you're not my type anyway…no offence but I like them pretty, you're a little on the rough side…which is good too, I know someone who wouldn't kick you out of bed in the morning." He said raising his eyebrows for effect.

"Just drop it," Ray said, shivering slightly as water ran down the back of his neck, the memory of being in bed with her helping.

"Ok fine….for now," he smiled before looking quizzically at the bathroom, "That was quick!" Ash said as Neela emerged from it, dressed in sweats and an oversized t-shirt.

"Yeah," she said less than impressed, "You guys didn't leave me enough hot water,"

"Oops," Ash said lamely as he shrugged,

Ray just looked guilty; his head too confused to muster up anything else at that moment.

"I think you misread the dress code Ray, it said clothing – formal, not clothing -_optional_," she teased, unable to resist checking him out one last time.

Ray stuck his tongue out of her, sending visions of it being wrapped around hers through her mind.

"Leave the poor guy alone you big bully," Ash said defending Ray,

"You've changed your tune," she smiled, her brother was usually first in the make fun of Ray line.

"I learnt at an early age always to defend the people that could quite easily kick your ass," he explained. Despite getting the upper hand the other day, he knew that Ray could totally take him in a fair fight. The only reason he'd gotten as far as he had before was because Ray had been making sure Neela was safe….and he couldn't fault him for that.

Ray just smiled as he headed towards his room.

"_I_ could kick your ass," Neela said, intriguing Ray enough to stay a minute longer, "in fact I did, my tenth birthday if I recall."

"Ok, firstly I was sick that day," he defended himself lamely, "and secondly what happened to the part where we _never_ talk about that again,"

"Oops," Neela grinned, mimicking her brother,

"I don't know what you're laughing at," Ash said to Ray, "she could totally take you as well,"

"I'd like to see her try," Ray smiled at her,

"Maybe later," Neela said nervously, the image of it given his current state of undress was too much for her to handle, "but right now clothes are the first thing on my agenda."

"Right," Ray said as he watched her walk to her room, leaving him once again alone with her brother. "Don't start," he warned again, holding up a hand to silence him as he closed the door to his room.

Ash sank onto the sofa and smiled as he looked at the two closed doors. "Something I said?"


	14. Chapter 14

Here's a new chapter for you all, thanks for all the reviews, especially historianic, wow! That last was like an essay, thanks so much for all the effort. I really appreciate it, and glad you like it.

Chapter 16 – New years eve (3)

"You have more hair care products than my mother," Ash teased Ray as he surveyed the room. After incessant whining Ray had finally let him in after he had dressed, if he had to hear 'I'm bored' through his keyhole one more time, Neela was going to find herself short a sibling.

"Sure, you can use my stuff," Ray said sarcastically as Ash stood in front the mirror re-adjusting his hair for the hundredth time.

"Hey Ash," Neela said knocking on the slightly open door, "give me a hand?" she asked,

"Sorry, sticky hands," he said holding up his conveniently hair gelled hands as Neela held her dress to her body, the zipper undone. "Ray would you?" he asked pointing in the direction of his sister.

"Me….dress….zip…..right," Ray said nervously, he felt like he was in high school all over again.

"Try a verb," Ash joked, as Ray approached Neela, who was looking anywhere but him.

She bit her lip as she turned around, anticipating his touch. His hands shook as he reached out to her, his hands carefully taking the zip between his fingertips, tempted to brush against the smooth skin of her back as he moved it up…..slowly. His eyes were transfixed on her, the way her hair fell against her skin…..

**-She's not wearing a bra** – his inner teenager informed,

-**Shut up!-** he told himself, it was hard enough to resist as it was.

"Thanks," Neela said shyly as she stepped forward and turned to look back at him, her eyes swiftly moving to her brother.

**-Help!-**

"So what do you think?" she asked him, desperate to get him involved in the conversation.

"Let's just say it's a good thing you're a doctor," he smirked, "many a man will be needing CPR tonight." He added looking pointedly at Ray.

"You are so lame," Neela said, giving him a warning glare, his blunt comments were not needed,

"What?" he asked faking shock, "you look hot ….for my sister anyway, right Ray?"

**-How did I know **_**I**_** was gonna get dragged into this?-**

"Yeah, you look nice," Ray smiled flustered, trying not to drool all over his freshly washed shirt.

**-Nice?-** Neela sighed inside, looking at the ground, **not really what I was going for.** The dress was practically cutting off her circulation it was so tight, she could barely move, nice was definitely not the intended reaction.

**-Nice?-** Ash rolled his eyes, **-I'm gonna slap some sense into that boy before the night is through-**

"I guess we better get going, when I invited the others I said we'd be there at 8," Neela said heading towards the door.

"Jacket?" Ray asked her,

"With that outfit?" Ash said incredulously looking at Ray as Neela smiled on, "that totally defeats the point of the skin tight dress,"

"It's not that tight." Neela said, "is it**?" I'll kill Ash if he made me look like I should be working on a street corner; I'm never letting him choose my clothes again.'**

"Neela trust me, you look great, I mean what's the point of having a gay brother if you can't benefit from his fashion sense. Shame Ray doesn't have one," he teased, looking him up and down, shaking his head playfully at his outfit.

"Ignore him," Neela said, "every day is a fashion show to him. I'm not taking a jacket cos I don't want to have to carry it around all night." She clarified, "I'll freeze I know, but its just easier."

**-I'd keep you warm-** Ray thought as she wrapped her arms around herself, bracing herself for the outside,** -if only you'd let me-**

"Here," Ray said taking off his own jacket, "there is no way you're walking all the way to the El like that, don't worry I'll take it back off you later,"

"Thanks," she smiled as she slipped her arms into it, savouring the warmth his body had left behind, fighting the urge to inhale his scent.

**-Now we're getting somewhere-** Ash smiled as he followed them **– at last-**

XXXX

"Um, excuse you," Ash said loudly as someone passed him on the El, stumbling backwards dramatically.

Ray raised his eyebrows, - **he didn't even touch you –** he said by raising his eyebrows at him. Ash just shook his head playfully and nodded at his sister who was now flush against Ray.

Ray looked down at the hand on her hip that had instinctively moved there to stabilise her when Ash had knocked into her.

-_**Now**_** he gets the point-** Ash said, turning away.

Neela knew her brother was up to something and usually she would yell at him, but the feel of her body pressed against Ray's took all words from her mind. They both knew they should move back to where they were before, but moving would mean acknowledging that they were touching in the first place, not to mention break the much needed contact.

Ray looked down in front of him, at the soft curls resting on her shoulders, his jacket covering the hand she had wrapped around her waist. His eyes drifted to the hand she had around the rail and then to his, which was only inches above it, daring him to touch her. Moving painfully slowly he worked up the courage to put his hand over hers, Neela's breathing slowed as she felt his fingertips brush the side of her hand and his other hand tighten slightly on her waist.

**-Just once more-** he told himself – **move your hand once more…do it…do it ….now-**

"This is us," Ash said as they reached their stop, rolling his eyes at Ray as Neela stepped on to the platform, "Do I have to do everything myself," he whispered,

Ray just followed along behind them, -**I tried-** his head defended him, **-not hard enough**- Ash's voice said invading his thoughts.

XXX X

"Dr. Neela?" Brett asked eyeing her up and down appreciatively, "Damn!" he added before stepping back and looking at her in awe. "What the hell was _I_ thinking when I took no for an answer?"

"Nice to see you too Brett," she said hugging him, glad someone was finally taking notice of the outfit that was slowly suffocating her to death.

"Here," Ash said swiping a napkin off the bar and handing it to Ray.

"Huh?" he asked confused,

"I thought you might want to take some notes," he smiled, "cos _that guy_ knows what he's doing,"

Ray just glowered, before screwing the napkin up and throwing it at Ash's head.

"Ash," Neela said pulling him off to the dance floor, " I want you to meet someone,"

"Gay?" he asked hopefully,

"Band mate of Ray's," she smiled, he never gave up,

"So that's a no right?" he asked following her, "shame."

"What's up with you?" Abby asked as she emerged from the crowd, Morris and Pratt in tow,

"Nothing," Ray said, never taking his eyes off Neela.

**-How long are you gonna keep this up?-** he asked himself, -**be a man, tell her.-**

"So who wants a drink?" he asked turning away from her, -**maybe later-**

**TBC - Very nearly finished.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 17 – new years eve (4)

"Is it disturbing that I don't mind that you're drooling over my baby sister?" Ash asked handing Ray a beer.

"Oh no, Ray doesn't drool," Morris said, "we've had this talk before…I'm not buying it though."

Ray just glared at him, one of the few facial expressions ever shared between the two of them.

"So you gonna tell her or what, this whole unrequited thing is so last year?" Ash teased, "I mean I gave you the best excuse on the train, she was practically in your lap, you could have jumped her right there."

"Ok, eew," Abby said, "You may not find it sick but the rest of it us totally do, no more discussion of anyone jumping anyone, you got it?"

"For ER docs you guys are awful squeamish," Ash joked, "but I promise, no more 'jumping.'"

"Would you guys just get off my case?" Ray said frustration lacing his voice, "I know that I'm a coward, and that I'm missing the best thing in the world by not telling her, ok, I know! I don't need you guys making it worse."

The comments had finally gotten to him, that and the few beers he'd had had loosened his tongue ..not to mention a few brain cells.

"You guys think this is easy? That I can just walk up to her and tell her…I cant, …..what is she says no…what if ……"

"What if she says yes? Ash said simply,

Ray's eyes widened and he ran a hand through his hair,

"You're right," he sighed, "what _if_ she says yes…I'll tell you what if…I'll screw it up, I always do."

Taking his beer off the bar Ray walked away, getting lost in the darkness and the crowd.

"Wow, that guy really knows how to kill a party!" Ash said, trying to lighten the mood

XXXX

"That's one hell of a roommate you've got there," Brett panted as he came back from the dance floor, "any more dancing and I'll pass out. So what are you sulking for?" he asked as Ray only sipped his beer in response, "this is a party, lighten up."

"Alright," Brett sighed, if you're gonna be like this all night I'm going back over there."

"No wait, I'm sorry," Ray said taking Brett by the sleeve,

"It speaks," Brett smiled in mock surprise, "If you're sulking about Neela again, you should stop, she's totally in to you. Just get a load of that dress, ouch!"

"You're as bad as her brother,"

"How cool is that guy? Brett asked, "He hooked me up with that job Neela told you about."

"Cool," Ray said, his eyes catching a glimpse of Neela on the dance floor. She smiled and waved him over.

The smile she gave him melted his heart she was so beautiful….so untouchable, so much better than he deserved.

-**So what?-** his head chipped in, -**tell her or leave her alone forever, your choice.-**

"I'll be right back," Ray said heading off in the direction of Neela, finally deciding to take the chance.

**-Now or never right?-**

"Hey," she beamed as he walked up to her, "Ray?" she questioned as he walked right past her.

If he was going to do this, he had to really 'do it', no half hearted attempts, no backing out and there was only one way he knew how to do that.

XXXX

"What is he doing _now_?" Abby asked as she saw Ray climbing on to the stage and whisper to the singer.

"I guess we're about to find out," Morris said as Ray took the mic.

"Hey there everyone," Ray said, swallowing nervously, "Sorry to ruin your party, but can I have your attention for just a minute?"

Ray looked out in to the crowd for inspiration as his head went blank "Go for it," Ash mouthed to him.

-C**ome on, you've been on stage before, it's just like that-** he said trying to psych himself up.

"Um, well you're probably wondering what this is about." He said catching Neela's eye for the briefest moment before darting away. If he looked at her he couldn't do it.

**-Why won't he look at me ?-**

"Well, um, god,' he said running a nervous hand over his eyes, "I've been trying to tell Neela something all year, and I mean _literally_ all year," he said, Neela's heart beating ten to the dozen at the mention of her name.

"And every time, I either bottle out, say something stupid or get interrupted, so to make sure I do it this time you're all gonna have to listen….so here goes.." he started. "Neela…I…"

**- have a girlfriend who I love intensely,** Neela thought, ….**want you to leave…..wish you'd stop coming on to me, can't you see I'm not interested- **the list of things grew and grew in her head.

"I feel like a total dumb ass standing on this stage.." he joked, man this was hard, "and I'm sure you would agree that I've been one for most of the year…but um….earlier tonight I got some really good advice….a friend told me that I should make a move and finally tell the girl of my dreams how I feel,"

**-Note to self, kill my brother-** she thought, **-why is Ray doing this to me, he doesn't have to announce to me that he loves this dream girl of his, he doesn't even have to tell me, it's so obvious, what does this have to do with me?**

"So Neela…." Ray continued his grip on the mic becoming painful, but it was his only link to the world, he wasn't letting go.

**-Oh god here it comes-**

"I love you."

The room fell silent as all eyes went to Neela, standing alone and bewildered in the middle of the dance floor, her eyes searching out Ray but unable to see him, the spotlights blinding her. But he could see her perfectly, see the way she was frozen in shock, the panic in her eyes,

**-What have you done?"** he asked himself as his hand slipped from the mic and he slipped from the stage unseen as all eyes remained on the object of his affection.

"Ray?" she asked as she climbed up on to the stage, "Ray?" she asked the crowd but no reply came.

**XXXX**

"That's some disappearing act you got there?" Neela said when she finally found him in the parking lot, "you should take your show on the road."

"Didn't really feel like sticking around," he said miserably,

"Why not?" Neela asked not in the mood to play along, his admission of love had emboldened her and she wasn't going to let the chance to set him straight in style pass her by.

"Why not?" he repeated, "why not?" he asked the darkness around him, laughing bitterly, "because I saw the look in your eyes that's why not." he said letting out a huge sigh at the end of it. "I told you exactly how I felt and it totally freaked you out. How could I be so wrong Neela, god don't I know you at all?"

"You did get one thing right," she said cryptically, "you _are_ a _total_ dumb ass."

"What?" he asked,

**First she breaks my heart, now she insults me, when did I enter the twilight zone?-**

"First of all you let my brother talk you into that little display back there," she started, knowing full well he had to have had something to do with it.

"Display? Is that what you think it was? I….."

"I'm not finished," Neela said holding a hand up to silence him, "I should let you know, that listening to him is the stupidest you could ever do, it's liable to get you in a lot of trouble….. quite often arrested if you're not careful,"

Ray just stared at her, he couldn't believe her nonchalant attitude, this wasn't the person he knew.

"Secondly, you disappeared off the stage before I could talk to you and made me come outside into this god forsaken parking lot in the freezing cold…just so you know you only get to do that once," she said, crossing her arms,

"And finally, you should have beaten that DJ over the head with his microphone on Valentine's Day when he interrupted you, I both know we wanted to. If you'd told me then what you wanted to say, you could have saved us both a whole load of torment. Just imagine all the time we could have spent have spent making out instead of avoiding each other." She smiled, now that she knew he wasn't expecting.

"Huh," Ray asked, his mind unable to process this new information,

"Ray," she said taking a step closer and putting a hand on his folded arms, "How could you think even for one second that I wouldn't love you back? The idea, frankly, is ludicrous…you know that right?"

"But….you said you wanted to just be friends?" he said covering her hand with his, his mind and heart racing, he had never expected she would feel the same, let alone think the idea of not loving him was crazy….no man was that lucky.

"Only because I thought that's what you wanted to hear, you told Morris it was nothing, we _both_ believed you," she said, shivering as he ran his hands down her arms and pulled her closer.

"Neela," he smiled, "how could you think that I wouldn't love you, don't you know it's ludicrous," he joked copying her words, "_You_ were the one that played the friendship card remember?"

"Only because I was scared that if I didn't things would get weird and ruin everything, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I would rather be your friend forever than risk being something more for a little while if it wasn't going to work out." She confessed.

"I know how you feel," he said caressing her cheek the way he had when this all began, "I can't believe I wasted so much time,"

"Well, I wasn't exactly forthcoming either now was I?" she smiled as she leant into his hand. "but at least now we can make up for lost time…..and that sounded totally corny, so when we tell this story to our kids we can just miss that part out." She joked,

"Yeah," he smiled, inching closer to her, the idea of kids not freaking him out the way he thought it would "probably best to leave out the part where we were making out in my room and all I could think of was doing very bad things to you." He added, "Wasn't the most PG moment I ever had."

"Ok, so we're gonna need to scrap the part where I wanted you to pin me to the fridge and do unspeakable things to me…..remind me to kill Morris for ruining that too."

"Oh I wouldn't say _ruined_," he smiled cheekily as he kissed her neck and pulled her into him, "you still have the outfit right, I'm sure something can be arranged."

"Hmm, sounds good," she mumbled as she smiled against his lips. The feel of them against hers a welcome relief, kissing was so much more enjoyable than thinking up witty banter. Her arms hung loosely around his neck as he lifted her up, his arms around her waist as her hair fell gently around his face.

"It's almost new year," she sighed as he placed her back on the ground, "you think maybe we could do _this one_ right?"

"I make you no promises," he said as he took her by the hand and led her back towards the building, "and don't think that now you're my 'girlfriend'," he said putting a childish slant on the word, "that you can boss me around."

"Fine, but I could still kick your ass," she teased as he opened the door for her.

"That sounds fun," he grinned as she reached behind herself to take his hands in hers. Leading him through the dance floor she spotted their friends, smiles plastered on their faces like they were going out of style.

"Ok, so who had new year?" Pratt asked,

"That would be me?" Abby smiled, "I knew Christmas would shake you guys up at last, it was the perfect choice."

"You bet on us?" Neela asked, "no wonder you were so unhelpful," she joked as Ray wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Well, in that case I think Abby owes us all a drink," he smiled, nodding his head towards the bar,

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," she said as she walked away, Pratt and Morris in tow.

"You think there's something going on there?" Ray joked, "they seem awful pally lately."

"Ew," Neela said nudging him with her shoulder,

"So I'm best man when the time comes right"? Came a voice behind them, "I totally deserve the honour for being matchmaker extraordinaire."

"Ash!" Neela said lunging for him, "you ever pull a stunt like that one on the El again and you'll be a dead man extraordinaire," she joked as she hugged him.

"What?! It worked didn't it?" he smiled, "Good luck with this one mate, you'll need it." He said as he walked away, "now I'm sure I saw a bar around here somewhere."

"What?" Neela asked as she saw Ray staring at her intently,

"Nothing, just trying to figure out how I got this lucky?" he smiled,

"As far as I remember, no-one's got lucky yet," she beamed, "not for lack of trying might I add."

"You really should stop hanging out with me you know, I'm a bad influence,….hey look, it's almost midnight," he said pointing at the clock, "come dance with me. End this whole thing the way it started."

"You are so sweet," Neela cooed as she followed him onto the dance floor, where a slow song was starting up, "don't worry I won't tell,"

Her arms slid around her as the countdown began,

10

9

8

"I love you," he said kissing her on the cheek,

7

6

"I love you too," she said kissing his lips instead,

5

4

Neela laughed out loud as he spun her around, dipping her backwards as he placed her feet back on the ground.

3

2

"So I got a date for valentines day then or what?" he said winking at her.

"I'll think about it," she smiled, kissing him fully on the lips, his arms wrapped tightly around her, his hands in her hair as he swung her around again. His lips lingering on hers as the countdown came to end, starting the year as he meant to go on.

1

It started with a dance…..and it didn't end.

FIN

**A/N That was meant to be the end, cos I wanted to end it on that line, but then I realised it's not actually a full year unless it ends on Valentine's. Anyone want 1 more chapter, its not written but I think I can rustle something up,got a few ideas, lots of fluff, no angst and a little something extra, wink wink, got to give you something for sticking with all the angst for so long. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. XXX**


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: So here it is, the end, for real this time lol. Hope you all like it, I wrote it this afternoon afterwork. It's dedicated to **historianic**, thank you so much for all your kind reviews, they meant a lot to me. So did everyone else's, so thanks to you all aswell.

Epilogue

"Ok," he said moving his hand from her eyes and sliding them down her side to her waist, "Open".

She smiled at his touch but refused to open her eyes, "You reemeber what happened the last time you surprised me right?"

"Yeah," he said grinning widely behind her," You said you loved me….after all the yelling anyway."

"I said I loved you like my brother," she corrected hm, "not exactly an accomplishment."

"Can we not mention him right now," he joked, "not kind of spoiling the mood."

She grinned as he rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms tighter around her, "Let me put it this way," he teased, "Open your eyes or I'll throw you off the balcony,"

'**Balcony,'** she laughed to herself, '**more like glorified fire escape,'**

"Ok, ok," she sighed playfully, "you win."

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the sight before her,

"Happy Valentine's day," he whispered, trying to gage her reaction.whether he'd done enough or too much, no man wanted to be a cliché.

She stepped away from her, her fingers glancing over the rose petals that covered every surface of the apartment, the candles giving the room a warm glow. Her eyes drifted to the table and saw the meal that he had prepared for them, laughing inwardly at the cup cakes he'd put to one side, he was never gonna let that Jumbo mart thing go.

"It's too much isn't it?" he asked feeling nervous, he'd never had a steady girlfriend for Valentine's day before, this was all new to him. "I knew I'd mess it up."

"The only thing that could mess it if up is if you keep talking," she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fully on the lips. Stepping back slightly as she caught him off guard he wrapped his arms tightly around her so she wouldn't fall, one hand twisting around her, while the other ran down her arm, taking the strap of her dress with it. She rested her forehead on his as she finally let their lips separate, her tear filled eyes catching his.

"What?" he asked, hoping they were happy tears but still not one hundred percent sure how to read her, although in time he hoped to learn.

"It's perfect," she smiled, running her fingers through his hair, something she did whenever she could, "You're perfect,"

Ray's smile outshone the candlelight as he pulled her to him and kissed her again.

"And you Miss Rasgotra," he teased, hoping to one day change that name to his, "sound like you just stepped out a teen drama….._you're perfect_," he mocked her, knowing she would know that even though he was teasing her about it, it meant the world to him."

"You should know, _Mr…"No I'm not watching Dawson's Creek re-runs, it was the game_," she teased back, putting her hands on her hips for effect, "and don't give me that look, we both know you were, I didn't fall for it when it was ghost I'm not doing it now," she stuck her tongue out at him playfully, "You know, if I wasn't certain that you're head over heels in love with me, I'd be worried about your little boy crush on Joshua Jackson. Although I do get it, he was definitely the hottest one in it"

"Oh you better run!" Ray called playfully to her as she darted away from him into the kitchen, she was fast but no match for him. He caught her up in his arms and pressed her back against the fridge, smirking at the familiarity of the situation. "Firstly there is no "boy crush" thank you very much, and secondly, a little sure of ourselves aren't we?"

"What? You saying you're not in love with me?" she teased back. Brushing her lips against his neck,

"I'm in love with that," he sighed; he loved it when she did that…and she knew it. "You're a close second."

"Good to know," she smiled before tip toeing up to kiss him, "so we gonna eat this meal or what?" she asked as she looked back at the table.

"Or what?" he whispered into her ear as he lifted her up and wrapped her legs around his waist, holding her firmly against the fridge. He was proud of his acomplishment, he'd never cooked before, but what sane guy would pass this up to eat?

"Do you and the fridge have some kind of intimate relationship I should know about?" she teased, "you seem to like it an awful lot."

"Your brother was right, you _are_ a handful." He smiled as she leant into him.

"A handful of what?" she teased,

"Oh god just shut up and kiss me already," he said with mock impatience, truth was he could stay like this and banter with her all day, he loved seeing her in this way….because he was the only one that got to.

"Now who's living in a teen drama?" she teased as she licked her lips …..slowly. Her eyes locked on his as she wriggled free from his arms and walked towards the bedroom.

'**Thank god, we live in the real world.'** He thought, what they were about to was far too high rated for anything teen related.

XXXX

"You took your time," she smiled, her eyes glued to him as he stepped into the room and removed his shirt,

"I thought that was the way you liked it," he teased as he crawled up the bed and rested on his arms above her, his lips inches from her.

She smirked; only he could make lame sarcasm sexy.

"So what else do I like?" she asked huskily,

He closed his lips around her shoulder, his teeth nipping at the soft skin as he pulled away, "If I'd known there was gonna be a test I would have studied," he smiled, as he pressed his lips to hers, his tongue running along them, begging her to let him in.

Grabbing him roughly by the hair she pulled him closer, his arms collapsing under him as his entire body was pressed against hers. Her left leg moved over his body, pushing him aside as she moved to sit on top of him, her hair falling in his face as she leaned in to kiss him. His hands ran up her back, his eyes squeezing shut as she rocked gently against him.

'**Jesus'** he thought to himself, **'this woman will be the death of me.'**

Slipping his hands under her dress he ran them up her legs to her waist, holding her flush against him as he leaned up to sit with her resting in his lap. Moving one had slowly back down her leg he caressed her thigh, before moving his hand up her back to undo the dress, his hand brushing against her skin, making her sigh in his ear.

Moving on to her knees so that she was the same height as him, he gently slipped the dress from her body, while she wrestled with his shirt. Neela looked down at him, her eyes dark and wild as she took in the sight before her, her hair encasing them, almost in darkness. He pulled her body flush against his; the feel of his skin on hers drove her crazy, needing to feel him all around her.

Locking her lips onto his, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and settled back into his lap, his arms wrapping around her body, never wanting to let go. In the past their lovemaking had been fast and frenzied, making up for lost time, but they both knew this was different, this time it was about love, not lust although they had plenty of both.

Brushing her hair from her face he smiled, brushing his lips softly against her cheek before moving to her neck, and then her shoulder. Lifting her from the bed, he lay her down on her back, settling at her side, his hands holding down her arms gently as his lips rejoined their exploration. He wasn't going to stop until they had touched every part of her, until he knew her off by heart.

Neela closed her eyes as she felt his cool breath and his warm lips leave a trail over her skin, this was going to be the best valentine's she had ever had, and not just because of the sex, which she knew would be great, it always was, but because for the first time, all the mushy cards, and lame gifts and flowers were the furthest things from her mind, all that mattered was right now, right here……all of it was just right.

XXXX

Ray lay on his back as Neela cuddled up to him, her legs wrapping around him, her hands tracing the muscles on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead, his body glistened with sweat, his heart pounded and he had never felt more exhausted in his life, but he couldn't stop the smile from coming over him…if this was how it felt to be in love he'd take it.

"You know," Neela said leaning up on her elbow, "if the 'super' comes up here and sees all those candles we're gonna get evicted, fire hazard and all that."

"I think he might notice us lying naked in the middle of the living room first," he grinned, "when and how exactly did we get in here again?"

"I can barely remember my own name right now," she grinned cheekily, "you expect me to know that?"

"You know a simple thank you would do, no need for sarcasm." He said nipping at her shoulder as he lifted his aching body up and lay above her again. "Just don't expect it every year ok," he teased, "I think you broke me."

"I don't remember you complaining," she smiled, "Oh wait, yeah I do." She winked,

"That wasn't complaining…." He said kissing her forehead again as he thought back on it.

"Oh really, I seem to recall hearing a few four letter words in there."

He grinned and bit his lip, he'd been beat and he knew it.

"They were…..compliments?" he tried,

"Uh huh," she smiled, " I'd like to hear you get away with using them around your mother….I can see it…"Mrs. Barnett, the meal was simply f……"

"Ah ah ah," he said putting his hand over her mouth as he rolled back to the floor bringing him with her, holding her close against his side, "I get the point."

"So did I?" she winked naughtily,

"Jesus woman," Ray smiled at her innuendo, "What's gotten into you?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" she grinned as she kissed him to stop his answer.

'**I really am a bad influence….although if this is what I taught her….damn I'm good.'**

He wrapped his arms around her as the kiss deepened, but stayed innocent at the same time, as innocent as it could, given their current situation.

"Thank you," he smiled breathlessly, "for giving me the craziest but most amazing year last year…I promise, this one will be a little less insane."

"Good," she smiled back, "leaves more time for this," grinning wickedly she pinned him to the ground" So, for next valentines…. I was thinking…." She said before whispering in his ear.

"Let me recover from this year first and I'll think about it," he beamed. There was no need to think about it, whatever she wanted was hers, he was just lucky he had all year to get ready for it…he was gonna need it.

Closing his eyes, he held her against him and smiled, this was gonna be one hell of a year!

FIN

A/N: The endings not that good cos I find them really hard to write, that's why I ended it at the last chapter cos I liked the last line, but…can't have it all. Hope you liked it and that it didnt spoil the rest of the fic in anyway. I always worry about that when I change things. Thanks for sticking with it. xxx


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